MONSTER!! - A Tale Of Darkness

No More

L stood over a bleeding, broken form on the ground. Their skin was shredded to ribbons, blood spilled every which way, the flow simply refusing to end. Most of their arm was detached, hanging loosely by threads. Chunks of flesh were gone.

L was shaking, hunched over. He was grinning wildly, staring at the unrecognizable form in front of him. Rain shot down like tear-shaped bullets. The poor victim moved, wheezing. They were still alive. They looked up at him, pain seeping through their eyes, but not physical pain.

Emotional pain. Like they were betrayed. He didn't know why.

Time felt like it slowed down, allowing the victim to stare into his eye for longer. With their still intact arm, the skinless form reached up to L's face, seemingly trying to wipe away blood. He suddenly realized he was drenched in it, gasping but the smile was still engraved on his face. The mangled body began to speak, and what he heard shook him to his core,
"Bro... I just wanted to help..."

L awoke in a cold sweat, screaming. Mario flinched, holding him out in front of him like a cat. "What's going on?! What happened?!" He cried, shocked. L stared back at his brother, tears falling to the sheets below them.
"...Just a bad dream..."
Mario frowned.
"It must have really been bad... I know you don't remember it, but you wake up like that a lot..."
L looked down, whimpering.
"I'm so sorry..."
"Don't be... a lot has happened before, over the years... none of it was ever your fault...
Maybe, after all this time, it must have gotten to you."
L looked up slightly, meeting Mario's gaze.
"Come on, I think we should head back out."
They came out to the living room, L absentmindedly rubbing the scar tissue that kept his left eye partially shut.

Daisy turned to them. "You guys were in there for a while! What were you talking about?"
"Oh, we were talking about how Luigi was doing, now you don't need to break how he was really doing to me anymore, I guess, and... well, he fell asleep so I waited for him to wake up."
Daisy frowned ever so slightly. "That's why I heard screaming."
L sighed, averting his gaze.
"Yeah... it was"
They sat with her, and Mario brought up his theory that L's past, even the parts he forgot, all added up to him breaking.
"Yeah... that makes a lot of sense. Poor guy's had his share of episodes... I don't think he knew how to handle it all..."
She looked over to him and L replied,
"No... I didn't... but I'm gonna figure it out... for all of us."